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by InitialLastName 1756 days ago
The world sucks at supply chain right now.

Even with the best intentions and planning, lead times have been expanding faster than orders come in. Orders are being pushed back and cancelled by vendors, and parts are disappearing from distributors very quickly.

Even the huge players shipping millions of units (Apple [0], Toyota [1], Sony [2], Samsung [3]), who are usually able to order the manufacturers around (in what's really a "bank owns you" vs "you own the bank" situation), are having trouble building products. Why would you expect a low-volume manufacturer to be in any way capable of doing better?

[0] https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/27/apples-iphone-hot-streak-wil...

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58266794

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-15/sony-is-s...

[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-17/samsung-w...
2 comments
zulu314 1756 days ago
Understood but you could expect a customer support to be candid about it.

They brushed me off with unpleasant tone + fake promises.

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gunapologist99 1756 days ago
Pine Phone (also a pure Linux phone experience) is delivering phones within three to four weeks. Purism has no excuse.
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fsflover 1756 days ago
See here why they do have an excuse: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Freque....
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gunapologist99 1756 days ago
"Purism could have avoided these delays by following the same model used by the PINE64 in designing the Pinephone by only using older components that already have good Linux support and launching with an existing mobile interface. If Purism had used the i.MX 6, the hardware would have been antiquated, but it could have avoided most of the problems it has encountered implementing the LCD screen, video out, cameras and power management. If Purism had used the i.MX 6 and Ubuntu Touch, it probably could have shipped in 2019, and avoided most of the delays, which have generated so much public criticism, but those would not have been good choices for the long-term future of the phone."
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Arnavion 1756 days ago
Note that "these delays" is referring to the time taken to develop the software for their choice of components, not sourcing the hardware of those components. The PinePhone doesn't have this problem not because of its choice of older components, but because Pine64 doesn't do any software and lets the community work it out, which it has.

That said, the problem of components shortage is real, which is why the PP's Beta Edition ships with identical hardware to the previous Community Edition but for needing to use a different, worse, magnetometer. ("Worse" because it has no driver in the mainline kernel yet so it can't be used.)

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